Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the crown prince at the airport.

His visit comes at a time when New Delhi has blamed Pakistan for a suicide bombing attack last week that killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in disputed Kashmir.

Prince Mohammed is expected to make an effort to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan as New Delhi weighs its response to the attack.

Relations between India and Saudi Arabia, where millions of Indians are employed as migrant workers, have strengthened since Modi visited Riyadh in 2016 to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with intelligence-gathering on money laundering and terrorism financing.

Trade between the two countries touched $27.5 billion in 2018. It is expected more and more investment agreements would be signed between the two state during Crown Prince’s India visit.